A Tale of Longing
by Cryellow
Summary: Coraline AU: Erwin Smith is an ex-general of the army. He gets an apartment that's separated into three parts and finds a hidden cupboard. What is this mysterious place called the 'other world? Will Erwin get dragged in? Can he save himself? Or will this other place lure him to his death? Eruri Fanfic!
1. Chapter 1

**_Author's Note:_** Hey guys! So sorry I haven't been posting much of anything at all. With my laptop officially out of commission, I have to write everything with my mom's laptop, and thats when I can get to it. I've been really busy with school, but I still have story ideas, so don't give up on me yet! I will not be one of those people who leaves the world to join the skeleton war with stories unfinished. That's not cool. Anyway- about this story. I know I've mainly only posted my PJO fanfics on here but I was thinking of showing my other fanfics here as well. Everyone is so supportive of my works, so I thought I'd share something from a different fandom. This one is from Snk- for those who don't know the abbreviations- Shingeki no Kyojin, in other words Attack on Titan. I'm caught up with all the manga and have seen all the anime (like three times each) so I thought, hey, why not write a little?

This fanfic specifically was recommended and angrily forced upon me by my friend Ezrie (I think that's how you spell it? That's how I spell it anyway.) They are so awesome, I can't express! They gave me fandom homework for craps sake! They're one of the main reasons for my writing this fanfic, which will be like two or three chapters max, so you should be thanking her and not me! All my inspiration is from the movie Coraline, which I _explicitly_ recommend.

Warnings: Not really anything bad in here at all. It gets kind of creepy.

Pairing: Eruri (Erwin/Levi)

Disclaimer: I don't own Coraline, the plot for Coraline, or anything about Coraline. I also don't own anything relating to Snk or it's characters. That belongs to Isayama, the mastor heartwrencher.

Without further comment, explanation, excuse, or note, I give you my latest master piece.

~~~!~~~

Erwin wasn't sure at what point he knew that the world he was in was wrong. He just knew that it was. He knew it didn't feel right, and he was sure that he didn't want to leave. Maybe It was seeing all that he wanted in a twisted world, maybe it should have broke him, but no, he loved this world much more than his own. It was both terrifying and horribly real.

Erwin Smith moved into the house on a whim. He had seen that the rent was cheap (it was divided into three parts, after all) and took the chance. In the upstairs apartment there was someone named Hanji. Erwin hadn't met them yet, but their name was on one of the rusty mailboxes out front. The other three names were for the tenants in the downstairs apartment.

The house had a spacious yard. There was a dingy garden in the back (roughly the size of a football field) and a driveway in the front. The house, which resembled a huge cliché haunted house, didn't have a fence, but the grass was cut so you could see the property line pretty clear. Erwin had drove his way up to the front of the house (the front door and first floor were all his now) and parked out front.

After a few short hours, he had gotten all his few belongings inside and set up some sort of living arrangement. With quick strides he sat down at the living room table and faced the kitchen. The apartment was spacious, sure, but it was also ratty, moldy, and a mess. It would take some serious DIY and cleaning to get it back to it's former glory. With a sigh, Erwin looked down at the papers and plans laid out before him. Erwin was a curious person. He was an explorer at heart, but he was also a planner and a leader. After several years of dedicated service, the army had let Erwin Smith go and be a free man, to live amongst society.

It was a hard adjustment to say the least. He was most fearful that his nightmares and OCD like tendencies would bother his new neighbors. He decided he would have to inform the neighbors, lest they think he was getting murdered in the apartment. The nightmares made him lay awake at night, scared beyond measure and wishing silently to go back to all his comrades. Unfortunately that isn't a possibility, seeing as all his friends were dead. It takes a lot to make a general in the army snap.

With a disgruntled sigh, Erwin got up from the table and went to bed early.

He was fortunate that he didn't have a nightmare the first night. Being in a new area seemed to do that to Erwin, like his haunted dreams had to catch up with him. Besides that, Erwin felt that the new apartment was homey, and it gave him an aura of welcome and peace. It was a strange feeling for someone out of the army. Definitely a strange feeling to someone who had gone to war.

Erwin made himself a to do list, which unfortunately ended up being rather long. On the top of the list was grocery shopping, the one below it reading unpack clothes. With a deep breath, Erwin went to his car, determined to go and find a store close to his new apartment. On his way out, a blonde man of about twenty waved him goodbye with a smile. Erwin waved back, a little hesitant, but drove away nonetheless.

Apparently, to Erwin's dismay, the grocery stores in his new town didn't sell cleaning supplies. When Erwin went and asked the clerk, a pretty woman with brown hair, a cheeky smile, and a name tag reading 'Sasha', she told him about a spill.

"Man, it was bad. There was bleach all in the ham. They were cleaning up that mess for weeks. It was before I was here, but since then the store doesn't sell any types of cleaning supplies. You might want to try Ackerman's. They're a little store a few blocks from here. When our store stopped selling the cleaning supplies, they opened up, saying that cleanliness is important to the people. Pshh, whatever. He's a clean freak, is what it is, but that's besides the point." The woman rung up all his items swiftly.

"Ackerman's? You said it's a couple of blocks from here?" Erwin said determined. He cut around her useless talking and went to the most important points. There is a cleaning store. Few blocks from the grocery store. Ackerman's. Like what he did in the Army, he cut away the distractions and found the basis and the answers.

"Just down the road," Sasha replied with a smile and pointing, as Erwin finished paying. With a nod, Erwin left and headed for the building.

Erwin was surprised. The shop was lined with tool after tool, bottle after bottle, of every cleaning implement that Erwin had ever heard of. The shelves were in even rows and everything had it's place. Erwin felt himself relax looking at it all, seeing everything organized seem to calm him.

"Wow." Erwin muttered, nodding. He looked around and then grabbed what he wanted, picking up some Windex and other things. With his hands full, he walked to the register. There was a man with his back turned behind the counter, close-cropped black hair swaying slightly as the man moved. Erwin set his stuff down and waited patiently for the man to finish. When the man turned, he didn't jump. There was a broom in his hands, his expression one of absolute boredom and annoyance.

"I hope you didn't make a mess," the man said deadly quiet. Erwin was shocked by the comment, but that wasn't just it. The man was gorgeous. He had soft rosy lips and firm muscles under a blue shirt. His eyes were two dark abysses, which were currently staring at him nonchalantly. His voice was silky and deadly. Erwin swallowed and clenched his jaw, trying not to say anything stupid.

"Everything is in it's place, if that's what you mean." Erwin said, his dark voice coming out deeper than usual. He didn't know why this man had this affect on him (he was an ex-general for God's sake), but he did.

The fact that he was gay had never bothered Erwin. When he was a school boy, he would take to looking at other boys instead of the girls. This was just something he naturally did, so why fight instinct? The army only enforced that way of thinking, telling the men and women to fight with their wits and to use the skills they were born with. Unfortunately not many of the other men were like him- none of them made fun of him, since he was relatively the best leader in the whole brigade, but he didn't have very many people to compare with. The few that did identify like he did weren't his type. They were all leaders themselves or too loud or something that Erwin always found off putting. Needless to say he didn't have many dates while he was in the army.

The man looked at him with squinted eyes for a moment and then nodded his head. He rung up Erwin's items with pianist' hands, the long white fingers grazing over each item with grace.

"I don't recall seeing you before," the man commented casually. "Are you new to town?"

"Just moved in to the house down on Titan avenue," Erwin said, taking his wallet out.

The man nodded his head, probably understanding why Erwin would need so many supplies. "Watch out for kids. It's almost Halloween. They love to go and run around in the house."

"Well, it's my apartment now. That would be a little bit of a surprise to walk in expecting a haunted house and walking instead into a man's living area."

Erwin looked up at the man with a smile and saw a twinkle in the dark eyes. They shone with humor- like he wanted to smile but the joke was too terrible to laugh at. Erwin couldn't blame him. He wasn't exactly a good conversationalist.

"I'm Erwin," he said quietly.

"Levi," the cashier replied simply. He handed Erwin his receipt and Erwin turned to leave. With a backward glance, he smiled at Levi.

"It's nice to meet you."

"Have a nice day," Levi replied.

Back at the apartment, Erwin set his stuff down inside and walked right back out, seeing smoke rising from the top of the house and the lights on the inside of the upper apartment on. Erwin guessed the best time to talk to 'Hanji' would be now, since they were obviously home. Erwin walked upstairs slowly, unsure as to why there was smoke emulating from their apartment. When he reached the door, Erwin wrapped on it twice with his knuckles.

There was a loud bang from inside the apartment, and someone's voice shouted from behind the door. "Be there in a minute!"

Erwin took a step back, cautious. There was a crash when finally Hanji swung the door wide. Erwin looked down into aviator glasses, long wild brown hair, and a manic smile.

"Sorry! My experiments get out of hand sometimes-" Hanji started to say, their hands moving to their pockets in a casual gesture. They were cut off abruptly by another bang from the inside of the apartment. Hanji cast a look over their shoulder, sucking air through her teeth. "That would be Sonny and Bean."

"I can come back later, if that is more convenient," Erwin replied seriously, his back straight. Hanji turned to look at him again, pushing up their glasses.

"No! Now is fine," Hanji looked him up and down carefully, eyes sweeping over him swiftly. Erwin got the feeling like he was in a doctor's office being examined. He got a chill up his spine at the thought. "You're the new tenant downstairs?"

"Yes. I just moved in yesterday. I wanted to meet the other occupants, but that's not all. I get nightmares. Unfortunately I end up making a substantial amount of noise because of them, so I wanted to warn you of them so you don't think I'm being harmed or anything." Erwin said, hands moving with his explanation. If he was expecting Hanji to scoff at him, or maybe brush it off, he was mistaken. Hanji's face brightened up.

"Nightmares, you say? Perhaps I can do a sleep study? Then I can get the data for my research in order to further-" Hanji said. They moved to the side a little, talking to themselves and forgetting he was there at all. Erwin hesitated but tried to speak.

"I have other things-" He tried, but Hanji wasn't listening at all at this point.

"But how will that affect the data? During the night time it is the weakest so I don't think that-"

With a sigh, Erwin walked down stairs, and with a backward glance he saw Hanji leave back into their apartment. Erwin made his way down to the downstairs apartment, hoping to kill two birds with one stone, but found that no one was home. When he knocked on the door he got no reply, so he went back to his own apartment and put his groceries away.

Erwin opened his bag of cleaning supplies and pictured Levi again. The slick black hair, the indifferent expression, the long legs and soft lips. Erwin shook his head and gathered the necessities and went about cleaning the apartment.

He was cleaning for roughly about an hour, when he came across some type of cupboard in the living room wall. It had wallpaper over it, but there was a keyhole instead of a handle, so Erwin guessed that it was probably just some random space. Being the explorer he was, he needed to know the truth himself. He went and found the keys to the house, and found an old rusty looking bronze key that looked like it would fit. He fit it in the hole, opened it, and found to his amazement, absolutely nothing. Not even a spare was just an empty cupboard. He closed the cupboard with a sigh and went back to cleaning.

That night, he fell asleep with nervous energy. He knew the nightmares were coming, regardless of what he wanted. If only he knew how wrong he was. Erwin closed his blue eyes and fell asleep.

When he woke up, it was still dark out. He looked around, his eyes gazing over his bed, his boxed up belongings, and the dark corridor outside his open door. Well that was strange... didn't he close it last night? He got out of bed and moved to close it, his feet touching the floor silently. When he got to do the door he instinctively looked out into the hall. There was a light shining from down the hall near the living room.

Erwin was a seriously curious man. He wouldn't deny it, since he couldn't.

He followed the light.

It ended up leading to the cupboard, a blue light shining from behind the door. The keyhole, which should have been empty, was instead a doorknob. Erwin hesitated for a moment and then reached for it, pulling it open. He found a narrow passageway lit with bright colors. He made his way on his hands and knees, unquestioning of the mysterious lights or the brand new passage that hadn't been there earlier. He didn't even know what time it was, or if this was all a dream or not. He imitated his instincts and crawled forward on a whim. After a minute, he saw an end to the tunnel, and making his way out, he found that he was back into the middle of his living room.

The only difference was, well, everything. The apartment was bright and colored- there was order to everything and there was a careless simplicity about it. It was the apartment of Erwin's dreams. He walked around the house in awe, looking at everything with an open mouth.

There, in the study, was a huge desk laden with papers and maps. The back wall was entirely bookshelves full of books, some old and some new. On the desk, next to a shiny laptop were a stack of books, each with his name written for the author. To the left of the laptop was a map of the world, a dozen red circles on each continent. In the corner was a key written in his own handwriting.

"Been to," Erwin read aloud. "Woah."

Erwin looked at each of the spots he'd always desperately hoped to go to. Each of the ones he had always wanted were circled. He got lost in the room, and lost in the map itself for quite sometime when he heard a noise behind him. He turned and brought himself into a fighting stance like he had been trained to do in the army. To his utter shock, however, there was a man standing in the doorway. The person had indistinct features and a tall posture. He looked like he was a generic person- like if you thought of a man, any man, that was it.

"Honey, I made dinner. Are you going to read your own book or come eat?" The person's voice sounded oddly warm like honey, and sweet.

"Who are you?" Erwin said defensive, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. His body didn't come out of the fighting stance. Constant vigilance. That's the way to survive.

"Your husband, silly! Now come get dinner!" The generic man left the room and went into the kitchen where the table was. Erwin hesitated, but followed anyway, ever the explorer. Set on the table was his favorite meal- honey roasted ham and rice. It smelled amazing, but Erwin looked at the stranger uncertainly.

"Sit!" His 'husband' said with a smile. Erwin shook his head. He was dreaming- he had to be. He took the invitation and sat down, eating the meal, since it wasn't real. Just as he thought that, he took a bite, and found that the food sure tasted real.

"Where am I?" Erwin asked, looking around. The window outside showed the brightly lit moo- that wasn't the moon. It was actually a button?! It even had the same shape as his 'husband's eyes. Erwin took a deep breath, his head a little dizzy as he tried to take everything in at once.

"Welcome to the other world," the stranger said in the honey voice, his odd lips going up in a smile.

"The... other world?" Erwin said, putting the question in his voice. He looked at the man dead in the face. It was hard to pinpoint what exactly he looked like. It was like looking at a hundred men and one all at once. It gave Erwin a headache. Instead he focused on the man's button eyes. They were strange, because they expressed a lot of emotion, yet were completely black.

"Oh yes," the man said happily. "You'll find that all the people in your life are here. All the things you want- everything. It's wonderful here. You'll see. Unfortunately we don't have long."

The stranger got up and held out his hand, inviting Erwin in with a warm smile. Erwin looked at the hand and then up at the stranger. Did he really think he would go on a limb and take his hand without answers? He was right, then, because Erwin did. He held his 'husband's hand as he walked Erwin to his own bedroom. He pulled Erwin down on the mattress with him, and cuddled up to Erwin.

"Goodnight," the honey voice said softly. At the stranger's words, Erwin instantly fell asleep.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Author's Note:**_

I get it. I've been gone for a very long time. I can't change that, but I'm trying to post stuff when I can. I wrote this in the middle of class, so I was awake and in the mood to write.

This fanfic specifically was recommended and angrily forced upon me by my friend Ezri. They are so awesome, I can't express! They gave me fandom homework for craps sake! They're one of the main reasons for my writing this fanfic, which will be like two or three chapters max, so you should be thanking her and not me! All my inspiration is from the movie Coraline, which I _explicitly_ recommend.

Warnings: Not really anything bad in here at all. It gets kind of creepy.

Pairing: Eruri (Erwin/Levi)

Disclaimer: I don't own Coraline, the plot for Coraline, or anything about Coraline. I also don't own anything relating to Snk or it's characters. That belongs to Isayama, the mastor heartwrencher.

I hope you all enjoy it!

~~~!~~~

When Erwin woke up again, he realized he was in his own home. It shouldn't have shocked him, since he had already deduced that it had all been a dream, but it surprised him nonetheless. He sat up in his bed, the forest green bedspread pooling around his waist, and he looked around, trying to find someone that didn't exist. He shook his head, ran his right hand through his rough blonde locks, which were getting decidedly too long, and tried to forget the dream like he forgot all the others.

Erwin's dreams were frequently filled with his hopes and his plans. While his nightmares were about blood, gore, death, and the ever increasing stress of survivors guilt, his dreams were filled with his longing. Some people mostly expressed that through hobbies and things, but Erwin really didn't have an outlet, so it was usually cast into the back of his mind. Cast into the deep pits of his sub-conscious that he wished to remain buried like his friends. Unfortunately, no such things happened. Last night's dream was proof of that very statement.

Erwin got out of bed and made his decision- today he would finish the cleaning and then start planning out his exploration routes. It was time to get out of stuffy houses and cars, and get into the wilderness.

Around midday, Erwin proved to be false. The work that he was doing would only let him be finished by tomorrow at the most, which was tragic, since he was almost out of supplies. The things he had bought at Ackerman's barely lasted the day, and so Erwin seized the opportunity and left to visit the store once more.

Before he left, however, he noticed something. He did a double take and went into the living room again. He tilted his head a little in confusion, since the little cupboard was slightly open. Erwin was pretty sure he had closed it the previous day, but with a shake of his head and a soft laugh he determined he must have left it open. He grabbed the key and closed it firmly.

"I'm going to either need to tape it or paint over it" Erwin said to himself, "these old doors are always hard to close in old houses. It's nothing unnatural. Purely science."

He left to get more supplies, feeling a slight twinge of anxiety in his back.

"Do you have any paint?" Erwin asked. He was facing the handsome cashier again, whose face was looking unconcerned.

"It's a cleaning store." Levi said the statement simply, like the fact was the answer.

"So... no?" Erwin said, raising his left eyebrow.

"Next to the Windex. We only have skin colors and one or two hardwoods," Levi said sighing. His eyes had a glint to them, though, so Erwin thought the shorter man was just messing with him. Erwin turned around and grinned to himself. Why not make this trip a little fun?

He found the paint cans on a stack on the floor, and moved around to face the cashier. In a slow motion, he was squatting behind some of the cans, his legs a little spread and the paint can between his legs. He picked up one can and turned it over in his fingers, the object almost touching the ground.

"How much for one?" He said, his voice rather deep. He didn't mean for it to come out so dark but, well, it did. Levi was facing him, his face unchanged.

"It says it on the can, does it not?"

"The handwriting is small on this one," Erwin commented, leaning forward a bit to look. His abs contorted under his plain gray shirt as he moved and his green necklace swung forward.

"Six," Levi said simply, turning around behind the counter. It could have been his imagination, but Erwin swore he saw Levi lick his lips as he turned away. With a grin, Erwin stood up and placed the can on the counter, successful.

"Just one of these and more wipes." He said quietly. Levi turned around and rung him up, his dark hair shading his face a little.

Erwin could have stared at the man all day, his soft lips tight and his shirt (which exposed his collarbone) was a delightful thing. Well he could have, but something outside drew is attention. It was a deer, off in the woods across the street. It looked directly at Erwin, shook his head as if saying 'no', and then ran off. Erwin got the distinct impression that the deer was trying to warn him, but shook off the thought quickly. That didn't make any sense.

"Erwin," Levi silky voice said beside him. Erwin turned his blonde head and focused his blue eyes on Levi's dark ones. For a minute, they both stayed there for a while, but Erwin won and Levi looked down, motioning with his hand in the middle of the two. "Your receipt."

Erwin took it with a nod, grabbed his things and walked to the door. "Thank you."

Erwin swore he saw a hint of a smile as he left the store and walked back to his car. He looked down at the receipt and found something scribbled on the bottom. Erwin grinned and pocketed the receipt. It had Levi's number on it.

When Erwin pulled into his apartment, he saw a light on downstairs. He dropped his stuff off on his kitchen table and walked down the stairs. He walked up to the dark mahogany door and knocked twice.

"Hello?" Erwin called. With a couple of indistinct whispers, he heard a lock cast aside.

A blond person opened the door, his blue eyes shining through the little crack he made. "Who is it?"

"The new upstairs tenant, Erwin. I don't mean to be a bother. I just wanted to day hi and-"

"Oh!" The man interjected and opened the door. Behind him the apartment was a mess. There were papers and clothes everywhere and red solo cups littering the floor. A couple feet behind the blond were a man and a woman, the woman's short black hair almost hidden under the red scarf she wore. The man had an angry face like something Erwin would have seen in the military. His eyes shone with some type of indescribable rage and anger. The blond, on the contrary, had a smile on his face and his short hair framed his face, giving him a cute look. Erwin realized that the blond had waved to him the day before. "Nice to meet you!"

"I don't mean to be a bother, really." Erwin said, looking at the other two. The blond just waved to his companions.

"I'm Armin, that's Mikasa," he pointed to the woman with the long scarf and strong looking arms, "and that's Eren."

Armin pointed to the dark eyed man and he smiled.

"We share the apartment, since college is, well, a mess. Plus we've known each other for years. You aren't a bother, by the way. It's just that the other two are a little shy around new people."

Erwin nodded his head, his hands moving to his pockets. "I just wanted to inform my neighbors about my nightmares. Sometimes I can get rather loud and if it becomes a serious bother I can get some sound proofing, but since I just moved I haven't had time to do anything about it."

"That's okay," Armin said, but his smile faded and he bit his lip. "You know, for extreme nightmares, it's helpful to try placing yourself and easing your mind before you fall asleep. If you know that you are at home, and that you are safe, psychologically it should bring you better results."

Erwin nodded his head, mentally reminding himself to take those steps. "Thank you for the tip."

"Have you met Hanji yet?" Armin asked, his smile coming back.

"Yes I did," Erwin said."They-uh-"

"They asked you about to do a sleep study, didn't you?" Armin said with a laugh. "Classic Hanji."

"Don't ever ask them about their experiments," Eren said, to Erwin's shock. "If you want to live,

just don't."

"Did you learn it from experience?" Erwin asked, a grin on his face.

"They had me there for three days just reading about studies they did on Sonny and Bean." Eren

said with a shudder. "I still have nightmares."

"What are Sonny and Bean?" Erwin asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

"Hanji's lab rats. Somehow Hanji had kept them alive for some three years. If I was them, I would probably contemplate suicide." Eren replied.

"Is it really that bad?" Erwin said, a chuckle escaping him.

"Eren's exaggerating. But they are, uhm, a little sad if you see them." Armin interjected. Erwin nodded his head and caught sight of a clock behind Eren. Erwin decided he really must start cleaning, or it would never get done. He smiled at the tenants and tried to decide how he felt about them. They seemed nice enough, even if their apartment gave him the chills.

"I have to get going, but it's nice to meet you. I'm confident we will meet again."

Armin held out his hand and Erwin shook it. He lightly turned and walked back upstairs.

 _ **Author's** **Note**_ : I'm sorry it's so short and I'm sorry I didn't get to the next dream in this chapter, but it's coming! Don't worry! I hope you _**like, fav, review, and read my other works!** ~Cryellow_


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